Last years’ high profile rape investigation of NHL superstar, Patrick Kane, brought the issue of sexual assault and rape by hockey players into the public eye. But this isn’t just about Patrick Kane, who was ultimately not charged.
Another NHL player, convicted spousal abuser Slava Voynov, remains property of the Los Angeles Kings even after he fled home to Russia one step ahead of deportation.
And then there is Mike Ribeiro, who starred for the Nashville Predators throughout the duration of a now-settled civil suit regarding his alleged sexual assault of his children’s nanny. Ribeiro was re-signed by Nashville in the summer of 2015, when the team and the public already knew all about his situation with the babysitter.
Unlike other sports leagues like the NFL, the National Hockey League does not have a formal personal conduct policy or one specifically addressing domestic violence or sexual assault.
It is unacceptable for our nation’s sports leagues to be sitting passively by in these situations. For female fans. For male fans. For all of us.
It is now time to press for change.
To do better.
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Hockey fan, Melissa Geschwind, took up this cause and started a Change.Org Petition to the NHL to “Take violence against woman seriously.” The full text of the Petition, which has garnered over 36,000 signatures to date, is here:
In early August, Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane was accused of raping a woman, another allegation of sexual violence in a sport that seems unwilling to change for the better. Despite the fact that he was under investigation for a serious crime for months, Kane did not miss a single day on the ice. On the contrary, his team never paused in actively promoting him.
It has become increasingly difficult for hockey fans like me — especially women, who make up roughly 1 in 3 NHL fans — to cheer for teams that shrug off serious allegations of their players assaulting women. These teams often place on-ice competition and business interests above basic decency. And we’ve had enough of it.
As public incidences of violence against women continue to bring shame to the hockey community, the National Hockey League has steadfastly refused to change. Not anymore. We are petitioning the NHL to institute a clear, comprehensive policy of zero tolerance for players who commit acts of intimate partner violence or sexual assault.
This would mean that the NHL would have suspended a suspected sexual abuser like Kane – with pay – until the police investigation was complete. It would mean that a team that violates the terms of a domestic abuser’s suspension, as the Los Angeles Kings did with Slava Voynov, would receive a harsh, truly consequential punishment. It would also mean that a player convicted of such a crime would not be allowed to rejoin his team in any capacity until he has served his sentence.
Some Blackhawks fans have spoken eloquently about walking away from the team they used to love. As a lifelong New Jersey Devils fan I know how strong the bond between fan and team can be, but I also know that our moral center needs to be stronger. If the NHL doesn’t take real action to help deter sexual assault and violence against women among its players then I, and many others, will feel forced to cut all ties with the league and the teams we feel so passionately about.
We want the NHL to send a message to players — and to the public — that we are through tolerating this unacceptable behavior. The way that the league and its teams treat issues of sexual assault, domestic violence, sexism and misogyny has a real effect on fans, especially the youngest, most impressionable ones. We care, and Commissioner Bettman should, too. He should respect us enough to hear us out. Sign this petition if you agree. Thank you.
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In addition, letters like the one below were sent to every team in the NHL:
Dear Dr. and Dr. Samueli, Mr. Schulman, Mr. Murray, and the Anaheim Ducks organization,
Last October I started a petition on change.org regarding how the NHL and its member teams address sexual assault and domestic violence among their players. The petition has garnered more than 36,000 signatures as well as attention in print, electronic and broadcast media. In April I met with Commissioner Bettman at the NHL’s New York office to discuss the petition and the larger issue of violence against women.
I left that meeting feeling very hopeful, but since then the NHL has kept silent on this topic even as more incidents continue to surface. Your fans haven’t forgotten, though, and they’re counting on you to advocate for them both within the Ducks organization and as a member of the league. Please take a few minutes to read the letters below and allow fans to tell you in their own words how they feel about spending time, money, and emotion on a league that refuses to publicly denounce sexual assault and domestic violence.
There are simple, concrete steps you can take to let fans know that the Ducks will not tolerate violence against women:
- Do not draft, sign, trade for, or re-sign players with a history of sexual assault or domestic violence
- Suspend any player under police investigation for committing an act of off-ice violence
- Sever all ties with anyone who is convicted of these crimes
- Establish a relationship with Anaheim-area charities and shelters that serve victims of these crimes
- Urge the NHL to take a public stance against these crimes, because silence is a statement in itself
If you’d like to reach out to one or more of the authors below please don’t hesitate to ask. If you’d like to address the larger issue through me or change.org, I’ll be glad to facilitate that as well. Please contact me any time to confirm receipt of this email and/or discuss the topic further.
Thank you very much for your time,
Melissa Geschwind
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Let’s help to lead social change in this area that’s long overdue. Join us in taking action to push for change.
Please sign the Petition.
Please send your own letters to your local NHL teams.
Feel free to copy [email protected] when you send in your letter to your local team.
Below is a list of contacts for each NHL team. :
This is ludicrous. Punish before the facts? How’s this accusation?:
Melissa Geschwind raped me.
Strip her of her job and let’s drag her through the courts of public scrutiny and ruin her career and family life. No questions asked. – Think about it people.
There are some jobs I would say are incomparable with committing domestic violence, but again it doesn’t seem to disqualify women for them, does it? I would think that the minister responsible for preventing domestic violence probably shouldn’t be a domestic abuser. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3804907/Labour-s-shadow-minister-domestic-violence-cautioned-bust-husband-hitting-framed-painting.html Maybe a charity concerned with preventing domestic violence shouldn’t have a domestic abuser as its spokes person. http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/2016/11/face-new-childline-campaign-cheryl-cole-domestic-violence-perpetrator-assaulted-husband-nightclub-attendant/ Maybe a person who’s never answered questions about her alleged domestic violence should be disqualified from becoming Presidemt, the chief law enforcement officer of the land, until she’s answered those questions at the very least. I see much less… Read more »
Wow…I don’t know where I’ve been lately in terms of following sports but I didn’t know that the NHL had those types of issues. Maybe since the NFL is more popular its given more coverage. Great article Michael!
Patrick Kane was more than likely falsely accused for money. I don’t even have to be a Blackhawks fan to see that. No DNA was found except on her shoulders. They tried to fabricate that whole rape kit was contaminated thing. Even her own lawyer quit. So where was her fine and / or suspension?
“Last years’ high profile rape investigation of NHL superstar, Patrick Kane, brought the issue of sexual assault and rape by hockey players into the public eye. But this isn’t just about Patrick Kane, who was ultimately not charged. Another NHL player, convicted spousal abuser Slava Voynov, remains property of the Los Angeles Kings even after he fled home to Russia one step ahead of deportation. And then there is Mike Ribeiro, who starred for the Nashville Predators throughout the duration of a now-settled civil suit regarding his alleged sexual assault of his children’s nanny. Ribeiro was re-signed by Nashville in… Read more »
@ Michael Kasdan Yet, I’m still not sure what that has to do with hockey? Did anyone demand that Sketcher dump Kelly Brooke or that no one sell her book after she admitted beating 2 of her ex-boyfriends? Why does professional athletics and professional athletes get held to a higher standard? Griner and Johnson get suspended for 20% of a season and people are OK with that, but got upset when Rice was suspended for a comparable amount 12.5% even though Griner and Johnson were suspended when sports leagues were supposed to be strict on abusers. Well I guess it… Read more »
Sorry, but I’m not going to support someone getting suspended simply for being accused of a crime unless there is clear and blatant proof from the outset that they did in fact commit that crime, in the NHL or any other league. That wasn’t the case for Kaine or Ribero’s incidents. I wouldn’t want that to happen to me at my job, and I doubt anyone else would at theirs.
Difficult for me to focus on these three women, and condemn the entirety of the NHL when estimates range from 35 to 40% of male victims of domestic violence are still being blamed (remember blaming the victim), or worse, invisible.
Even tougher when I see statistics of rape of boys by women (and yes men too), and hear female rapists saying, “he wanted it” while no prosecution exists.
Hell, I’m still confused as to whether this is just one more aspect of the women’s movement with the word “men” in the title.
If you don’t care about women being violated, that’s fine. No one said you had to care about it. If you can’t focus on these three women, who were abused and hurt, no problem, don’t. Other people care even if you don’t. But it was pretty clear what this piece was aiming to discuss. Which was specifically the issue of sexual assault and domestic violence amoung NHL players and what that means for the victims, the NHL, the players and the fans. Talking about anything else here, trying to divert the conversation to the things you personally care about more,… Read more »
If you don’t care about women being violated, that’s fine. No one said you had to care about it. If you can’t focus on these three women, who were abused and hurt, no problem, don’t.
not what I said, and this extremist argument is a prime example. I said it was difficult when such injustice, the injustice that you constantly ignore, is present.
You’ve twisted my words to your own end. It is called hypocrisy.
Precisely. And I agree with that.
If you don’t care about women being violated, that’s fine. No one said you had to care about it.
Wow that’s not what he said but since taking things out of context is okay around here as long as its in support of women/feminism/Clinton or to bash Trump/men/mrm then its no wonder its allowed to fly.
If you don’t like that he is bringing that up that’s fine (in fact I partially agree) but there is no need to put words in someone’s mouth to justify dismissing what they said.
@ Erin So how does denying a guy employment help women who’ve been victimized? Did releasing / banning Ray Rice really help Janay Rice? Isn’t the ultimate solution either to get him help or for her to leave? So he’ll just be a garbage collector when he abuses his next girl friend and I guess that makes it all better. Women get more lenient sentencing in part because courts consider the welfare of their children. Should courts stop doing that because society needs to be protected and women need to be punished as severely as a man when they do… Read more »
Thank you, Erin.
I’m firmly convinced that the scales of justice aren’t equal when a girl or young woman has been raped by an athlete, especially athletes in extremely popular sports. The victim of such a rape enters the courtroom with a distinct disadvantage. More than a few sports fans, especially the more fanatical ones, have no problem with athletes who commit rape. Their only concern is that their team has a winning season. So, all the defense attorneys have to do is pack the juries with sports fans, which is quite easy to do since most people are sports fans. A girl… Read more »
Why do you believe that though? Because of the facts, or because of gender feminist inundating us with false studies, truths, and their agenda against men? There as a mass of female on boy rape going on in this country, and a mass of male on male rape. Which one gets the notice? Why? Because people don’t dig deep enough, and they know just how to manipulate. No one is looking because they keep shutting it down, and what has it come to? As I’ve said, boys that are raped by adult women are out there paying child support to… Read more »
Since I don’t have enough time to make all the needed revisions, many of my posts do not represent my best writing; and some of my posts have been written in anger. But aside from a few revisions that I would make if I had access to my post above, I stand by everything I’ve said; and I won’t take back a single word. I believe what I’ve written because of facts and personal observations over a period of decades. I’ve been an observer of the culture of school sports for over 50 years. I know for a fact that… Read more »
So, are you saying that female rape victims have an easy time of it today — that they face no persecution if they dare to press charges? If you think the women’s movement is bad, take at look at the MRAs who laugh at women who have been raped. Such women are repeatedly shamed on the Internet.
First, you are not listening to MRAs, but MGTOW. Need to get that straight first. Second, there are just as many women in the MRA movement as are men. Some big name, former feminist, such as Farrell, Sommers. There are female organizations such as the, Honey Badgers. Now, as to laughing at our victims. What is violence against men, by women considered? That was tacit because we use it as comedy and we can see that every day on TV. Do you know that the majority of domestic violence is committed against men by women? Do we understand that female… Read more »
I was so angry after reading this topic last night that I ended up having insomnia; so, what you are about to read is not my best writing. Let me say that I believe we’re on the same page, generally speaking. But the devil is in the details. I hope you don’t consider me to be an adversary now because of certain comments I’ve made on this and previous occasions. I should explain at this point that I don’t keep up with the latest popular culture. I have no interest in what Hollywood actors say or do. My wife and… Read more »
Hi Bill. You seem angry because of the bullying involved in sports culture and what has happened to you, yes? Your right. You’ve been harmed by the type, and I agree with you, but don’t let them twist your emotion into something else that supports their agenda of lies and attacks on men. That is how they manipulate people, and have you to the point that you seem to believe that I am against the women’s movement. Not true, just more manipulation. Women’s movement was good, feminist movement bad, but you’ve assumed that I am against women’s equality in a… Read more »
For the last seven years, I’ve posted in several forums that deal with controversial issues. Occasionally I’ve been pleasantly surprised by favorable reactions to a post that I had assumed would be received unfavorably. This is one of those occasions. In fact, I’m touched. I had assumed that you had gotten mad at me; and I, in turn, let my own emotions get out of control. I’m flattered that you have written such a long reply to me. That indicates you care about me as a person instead of just an online adversary. At the risk of getting too personal,… Read more »
I think what he means is that people go after sports leagyes cindmenubng them for not having domestic abuser policies while admitted multiple time domestic abusers like Kelly Brock don’t lose their Sketchers endorsements or have their book deals cancelled.
How many people demanded that Sketchers or whoever her book publisher was have a domestic abuse policy? The suspicion is that they go after the sports leagues because they don’t have to worry about abusive women having to suffer any penalties.